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A key tenet of geek culture is knowledge – we judge and are judged based on our encyclopedic knowledge of games, sci-fi, comics, anime, collectibles and more. But it’s impossible for one human being to know everything, no matter how many chips you get put in your brain. That’s where we come in. With this series of “Geeksplainers,” we’ll give you everything you need to know to get up to speed on some of the most complicated, intense subjects in the pop culture universe. No longer will you have to fake it in conversations until you have time to run to the bathroom and engage in a 45 minute Wikipedia session. Let us be your guide, now and forever.

This installment: the wild world of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

What Is It?

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, often referred to as JJBA or simply Jojo’s, is a long running manga series by Hirohiko Araki. Debuting in 1987 in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, it currently runs in Ultra Jump. With over 100 million copies in print, it’s one of the most successful series in Japanese comics history, and it’s just recently starting to build a fan base in the United States.

The success of Jojos can be pinned to a few causes. First, Araki’s imagination is relentless – he’s constantly introducing new characters with innovative visual designs and wild powers. Telling the same story for thirty years isn’t easy, and he’s managed to keep it propulsive and fun. He’s also a design master, constantly challenging himself to tell stories in interesting ways. While manga has a reputation for lazy backgrounds and padding, Araki doesn’t swing that way. And finally, the series is insanely memeable. We’ll go into that more later.

In addition to the manga, there is a pair of JJBA animated series, a live-action movie, multiple video games, and even a line of snack foods. It’s a big franchise, and it’s not going to slow down anytime soon.

What The Hell Is A Jojo?

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you probably think a “jojo” is a deep fried potato wedge. If you shop at Trader Joe’s, it’s their name for Oreos. But in the Bizarre Adventure, it stands for Joestar, the family that is at the heart of the series. The Joestar blood brings with it a great deal of power as well as a lot of trouble.

The first “saga” of the series, Phantom Blood, introduces us to Jonathan Joestar – “JoJo” if you’re nasty. He’s a young man in Great Britain at the end of the 19th century who has his life turned upside down with the arrival of his foster brother, a dude named Dio Brando. Dio is the main antagonist of the series, a villain so dickish that he starts by burning Jon’s pet dog alive. He uses a mystical mask to transform into an immortal vampire, and Jonathan must learn the fighting technique known as the Ripple to battle him.

Later sagas introduce us to Jonathan’s descendants, including his grandson Joseph, Jolyne Cujoh and even some Jojos from an alternate universe. We told you it was complicated!

So What’s The Action Like?

Like much shojo manga, Jojo’s is all about the fights. Araki has introduced a number of supernatural elements to the world that bring things out of mere fisticuffs and into a more visually exciting way. First and foremost is the Ripple, the Joestar family’s trademark ability. It lets users transmit the energy of their breath into other objects to create great physical strength and speed.

Introduced in volume 3 are Stands, which are probably the plot device that’s most closely linked to the franchise. A Stand is a powerful supernatural entity that bonds with a host and is only visible to other Stand users. Each one has a unique ability, and they can get pretty crazy. Some notable Stands include Star Platinum, which can move at incredible speed and stop time; Stone Free, which can unravel itself into an animated string; and Killer Queen, which can transform any object into a bomb by touching it.

You don’t have to be human to use a Stand, either – they’ve been wielded by monkeys, rats and even a sentient colony of plankton.

Volume 7 introduces the Spin, which is sort of like the Ripple but uses balls or other objects to impart rotational force and even tear through the fabric of spacetime. Couple the Spin with a Stand and you’ve got some serious potential.

All of these techniques and supernatural beings make for wild, reality-bending conflicts that are as smart as they are visceral. The closest comparison is probably Fist Of The North Star, but with imagination to match the gore.

Where Should I Start?

With literally tens of thousands of pages of manga available, getting into Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a big commitment. Thankfully, you don’t need to start at the very beginning to get everything. Since each takes place in a different period with a different cast (with some exceptions), they’re sort of self-contained. You might miss some lore, but I’d recommend starting with volume 4, Diamond Is Unbreakable. Araki intended to stop making the manga after volume 3, but it proved so popular he penned a follow-up in modern times that’s where the books really hit their stride with crazy Stands and wild characters. If you dig it (and you should), go back and read volumes 1-3 before moving on.

What’s Up With All The Music References?

Araki’s many quirks show up in the pages of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, but one of the most noticeable is his love of music. Supporting characters and almost every Stand after Volume 3 are named after songs, albums, and nicknames for rock, jazz, and even hip-hop musicians. It’s kind of like a game Araki is playing with himself – how can he make a reference seem natural in the world of Jojos and make sense of the story? Some of them are totally absurd – naming a Stand “Soft & Wet” after Prince’s first single, or naming an evil witch Enya the Hag – but they make the franchise that much more fun.

Are The Games Any Good?

Sort of! The most famous one is probably Capcom’s 1998 fighting game, which for some reason was called Jojo’s Venture over here like he was opening up a Subway franchise or something. It’s best known for being hideously unbalanced – one character, the bird Petshop, can’t be hit low, making him nearly impossible to beat – as well as Dio’s super move where he stops time and drops a steamroller on you.

They released an uninspiring PS2 follow-up in 2002 that also got an American release, but didn’t make any waves. Bandai would get the Jojo’s license in 2006 and put out their own PS2 brawler based on Phantom Blood, but the golden age of Jojo gaming wouldn’t come until the 2013 release of All Star Battle, a quirky fighter that grabbed 40 characters from every story arc at the time and let them slug it out in an arena. The game had tons of gimmicks – Stands! Ripple! Some characters can ride horses! – and briefly enjoyed some notoriety on the competitive scene.

There’s also a pretty solid iOS game, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Records, that works like a primitive free-roaming brawler with piles of characters to unlock.

What About The Memes?

Keeping up on Jojo-related memes is a tough task, but here are the major ones.

Araki’s unique grasp of anatomy often leads his characters to take on distinctive poses. A few trademark “Jojo poses” are often seen at anime and comic book conventions with cosplayers. Here’s a video of a bunch so you’ll recognize them.

Each episode of the animated series ends with the introduction to progressive rock band Yes’s 1971 hit Roundabout, featuring gently plucked guitar by Steve Howe launching into a fierce bass riff from Chris Squier. It’s accompanied by a freeze frame in mid-action and an on-screen text with “To Be Continued.” The music and type treatment has been used on a wide range of videos, especially on Vine. Here’s a compilation of some of them so you can get the general idea.

Other Jojo memes include “Za Warudo / WRYYYY,” both from the Capcom fighting game’s Dio Brando, “Yare Yare Daze,” the catchphrase of Jotaru Kujo that’s applied to a bunch of situations, as well as the “ORA ORA ORA” battlecry of the Star Platinum stand.

Can You Just Spoil It For Me?

Sure. From this point onwards lurk spoilers for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Phantom Blood is mostly table setting, introducing the Joestar family, Dio and the Ripple with no real shocks. Battle Tendency sees Araki getting his footing and coming to terms with what he wants from the series, moving the fighting out of the physical realm and into the supernatural.

Volume 3 sees Dio Brando return, as well as the introduction of Stands. Dio has stolen Jonathan Joestar’s body, linking the two bloodlines and giving the vampire the ability to wield the Stand “The World” that lets him stop time. In Volume 4, the mystical Bow and Arrow is introduced that gives people shot by it Stand abilities.

Volume 5 stars Giorno Giovanna, the son of Dio Brando, and is set in Italy. It’s pretty stand-alone except for when Polnareff from Volume 3 shows up and switches a bunch of people’s brains and bodies towards the end.

At the end of Stone Ocean, the universe is completely reset from scratch by the actions of villain Pucci and his stand Made in Heaven, which has control over gravity and time. He fast-forwards until the end of existence and when Pucci is killed everything starts over again, but with significant changes.

That leads us into Steel Ball Run, Volume 7. We’re back in 1890, and our Jojo is a crippled jockey named Johnny Joestar who takes part in a horse race across America with Gyro Zepelli that’s actually an excuse to collect the mummified relics of Jesus Christ, which contain extraordinary power. Currently serialized in Japan, JoJolion stars Josuke Higashikata and brings back serial killer Yoshikage Kira from Volume 4.